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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635780">Tempered by violence</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimesBeingWhatTheyAre/pseuds/TimesBeingWhatTheyAre'>TimesBeingWhatTheyAre</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Where no man has gone before [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek, Star Trek: Mirror verse, Star Trek: The Original Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode Tag, Episode: s02e10 Mirror Mirror, M/M, Pre-Slash</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:22:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>788</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635780</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimesBeingWhatTheyAre/pseuds/TimesBeingWhatTheyAre</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A bleeding heart does not belong in a harsh reality like theirs.</p><p> </p><p>Coda to s2e10 'mirror mirror'</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James T. Kirk/Mirror Spock, Mirror James T. Kirk &amp; Mirror Spock, Mirror James T. Kirk/Mirror Spock</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Where no man has gone before [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Tempered by violence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Spock watches as the transporter beams away the parallel versions of his captain and the others, and dissolves back into the angry shapes of their own people.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does not allow his expressions to display emotions such as ‘glad’. He is Vulcan through and through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Spock, you traitorous slime,” the captain snarls as he sets eyes on Spock, and he raises an eyebrow at the familiar abuse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have returned, Captain,” Spock acknowledges, ignoring the words that his captain sends his way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, no thanks to you!” the man growls, baring his teeth at Spock, who stares straight at him and does not flinch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim straightens with a predatory smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or maybe you just wanted me mad,” he whispers, walking up to Spock and pausing an inch away from his lips, his head tilted up to meet Spock’s eyes, and that passion is the opposite of everything Spock stands for.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cannot help but be drawn to it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m right, aren’t I?” the captain smirks, the edges of his lips twisted cruel, and he brings a hand up to rest on Spock’s cheek, even though they both know of Spock’s hatred for touch. Jim allows the hand to rest there for a moment, then curls his fingers over so that the nails press into his skin and drags it down slowly, leaving small stinging trails of green blood in their wake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spock stands still and thinks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He thinks of the other captain, whom he did admire. That captain was intelligent and wise, and in many ways similar to the man who stands in front of him now. That captain was defined by his kindness, a kindness that Spock had caught glimpses of once or twice in the dark of the night, but it was simply wrong to carry such a weakness on display.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, not a weakness. But not a strength.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His captain is a man tempered by violence, who had always known that to succeed he would be able to stop at nothing. The other captain does not know of such things. No, that Jim wore his kindness on his sleeve, and Spock knows it will one day destroy that man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He is grateful for his own captain’s cruelty. It is what has carried him so far, and what has allowed Spock to remain by his side. A bleeding heart does not belong in a harsh reality like theirs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The captain finally draws his hand away, wiping the green blood on Spock’s chest and walking off without another word, and Spock steps into his place behind him. He does not care how he looks with blood dripping down his cheeks. His duty is to his captain and his post.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A man of integrity,” the other one calls him, and Spock thinks him to be wrong. He is not a man of integrity or honesty, but one of loyalty, and such a thing has taken him this far and may yet see him dead before the day is out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We will fire upon the planet at once,” the captain says, off-hand, and Spock realises it is a statement for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes captain,” he agrees, following him down the corridor, and thinking of </span>
  <em>
    <span>weakness</span>
  </em>
  <span> and how Jim will never be able to show mercy. Not here. Not now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He thinks also of </span>
  <em>
    <span>illogicality </span>
  </em>
  <span>and wonders if perhaps they would be happier to serve in a world where failure does not mean death but a second attempt. It might cause a drop in efficiency, but it might cause an increase in knowledge and in their ability to surpass their previous boundaries.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Spock thinks it will be a loss to destroy this planet, with their culture and beliefs and people, all so determined for peace that they would die for it. People who live to preserve peace are not a people that Spock knows well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They step into the turbo-lifts, the doctor and Mr Scott having peeled off back to their stations, and so it is only Uhura who stands alongside them, her hand twitching near her first dagger just in case. Jim is deadly enough even without weapons, and Spock finds that he does not desire to fight, even (illogically) in self-defense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He realises suddenly that this is a feeling. It is not a new one either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim strides out in front of them and sits at the captain’s chair. Spock pauses on his way over to the science station, his expression turned away from anyone who might happen to look his way, and eyes the back of his head, and wonders if perhaps there is a chance-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The phasers fire. Below them, a civilisation dies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Spock decides that he will find a way to save the next one.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
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